Brendan Rodgers has revealed ‘niggles’ have kept summer signing Maik Nawrocki out of the team after he returned from the injury he picked up in Celtic’s cup defeat at Kilmarnock.

Celtic’s summer transfer window has come under a lot of scrutiny, and rightly so. There have been many signings who are just not good enough, and some who haven’t even made a single appearance.

Maik Nawrocki came in and the assumption was that he would partner with Carter-Vickers at the back, but that hasn’t been the case, despite the Polish defender making the bench in recent weeks.

Brendan Rodgers has shed some light on the situation, saying that setbacks while coming back from injury have gone against the player, while hinting he’s in line for a significant role in the second half of the season.

The Celtic manager said, “It’s not food for thought, I know what I have,” as quoted by The National. 

“He has been unfortunate not to have played a bit earlier. He has picked up little niggles on his way back. He has trained for a few weeks and then picked up niggles when he’s not been involved. But that shows every faith that I have in him.

“He couldn’t play in the Champions League so to come in I thought he was good when he came in.

“A couple of moments when he maybe jumped in a wee bit but that is just about getting his timing back again.

“He passed it well and he is aggressive. He is going to be important for us in the second part of the season.”

With Carter-Vickers out for the trip to St Mirren, and possibly Stephen Welsh joining him on the sidelines, Nawrocki could be set for a start on Tuesday.